The most beautiful Soviet New Year's cards. Soviet New Year's cards

And after some time, the industry produced the widest range of postcards, pleasantly pleasing to the eye on the windows of newsstands filled with traditionally discreet printed materials.

And even though the quality of printing and the brightness of the colors of Soviet postcards were inferior to imported ones, these shortcomings were redeemed by the originality of the plots and the high professionalism of the artists.

The true heyday of the Soviet New Year's card came in the 60s. The number of plots has increased: there are such motives as space exploration, the struggle for peace. Winter landscapes were crowned with wishes: "May the New Year bring success in sports!"

In the creation of postcards, a motley variety of styles and methods reigned. Although, of course, it could not do without interweaving the content of newspaper editorials into the New Year theme.
As the well-known collector Yevgeny Ivanov jokingly notes, on postcards “Soviet Santa Claus actively participates in the social and industrial life of the Soviet people: he is a railway worker at the BAM, flies into space, melts metal, works on a computer, delivers mail, etc.

His hands are constantly busy with business - perhaps that is why Santa Claus carries a bag of gifts much less often ... ". By the way, the book by E. Ivanov "New Year and Christmas in Postcards", which seriously analyzes the plots of postcards from the point of view of their special symbolism, proves that there is much more meaning in an ordinary postal card than it might seem at first glance ...

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And after some time, the industry produced the widest range of postcards, pleasantly pleasing to the eye on the windows of newsstands filled with traditionally discreet printed materials.

And even though the quality of printing and the brightness of the colors of Soviet postcards were inferior to imported ones, these shortcomings were redeemed by the originality of the plots and the high professionalism of the artists.

The true heyday of the Soviet New Year's card came in the 60s. The number of plots has increased: there are such motives as space exploration, the struggle for peace. Winter landscapes were crowned with wishes: "May the New Year bring success in sports!"

In the creation of postcards, a motley variety of styles and methods reigned. Although, of course, it could not do without interweaving the content of newspaper editorials into the New Year theme.
As the well-known collector Yevgeny Ivanov jokingly notes, on postcards “Soviet Santa Claus actively participates in the social and industrial life of the Soviet people: he is a railway worker at the BAM, flies into space, melts metal, works on a computer, delivers mail, etc.

His hands are constantly busy with business - perhaps that is why Santa Claus carries a bag of gifts much less often ... ". By the way, the book by E. Ivanov "New Year and Christmas in Postcards", which seriously analyzes the plots of postcards from the point of view of their special symbolism, proves that there is much more meaning in an ordinary postal card than it might seem at first glance ...

1966

1968

1970

1971

1972

1973

1977

1979

1980

1981

1984

Postcards for me are one of my childhood memories. They came often, and for the holidays, in general, in packs, pieces of 15-20. We also wrote, one of the pre-holiday days was assigned to the mail. It took a lot of time for all the cards, the geography of sending - almost the whole country.

Today - a small selection of Soviet postcards that have survived with me. Let's see what they depicted in the 80s, how Santa Claus and characters changed closer to the 90s. The cards were printed in huge numbers, so maybe you will find some that you remember yourself.

Mail, almost the only means of communication then, was cheap, which made it available to many. I am unlikely to ever become a fan of the USSR, but I will always talk about Soviet postcards with warmth. Many were made with high quality, with beautiful drawings and kind characters. Among the latter, whoever you meet. Here is the traditional Santa Claus, whom Santa has not yet supplanted (I have nothing against the old man from Lapland, but now you can meet him with us maybe more often than our Grandfather). Here are happy kids on sleds, here are animals, here are cartoon characters.

Unfortunately, I do not have postcards from the 50s and 60s, where rockets, astronauts and other familiar details of that time were solemnly depicted, but something can be shown.

1. In general, I would divide postcards from the past into several groups. One of them is cards with Santa Claus. He was depicted either with funny helper animals, like here

3. Or already rushing in a troika to those who behaved well, while Santa was just preparing a reindeer team

4. Closer to the 90s, Grandpa became more like his European brother and began to use other transport.

5. Moroz even bought some things that he did without in the earlier Soviet era, and stopped forgetting about technological progress

6. Something fell on his assistants, and he even rejuvenated from this situation)

7. Sometimes Grandfather was portrayed in the company

8. Another group of New Year's cards kept the Kremlin in mind

9. Moreover, the red star always turned out to be traced more clearly than all other details.

10. But snow-covered houses and bells came across infrequently. Probably, they could remind the workers about pre-revolutionary Christmas cards with angels and churches, which was unacceptable then.

11. Various mythological characters were also rare. Gnomes are much closer to Christmas cards from Europe

12. But we had kids with sleds. There were no computers yet, I had to freeze on a hill) Or one

13. Or massively. Depicting pre-revolutionary traditional leisure in the 80s was no longer considered a crime

14. Few people wore folk costumes in the 80s, and postcards were not allowed to forget how they look. This is great

15. By the beginning of the 90s, such cards began to appear. In my opinion, this was the first step towards the primitiveness of drawings on postcards, which comes across even now.

16. But these look good

17. Even cooler - postcards with toys from the 50s - 60s. These decorations are simply amazing. Soon I will decorate the Christmas tree with them

18. As a bonus - a couple of postcards of socialist Bulgaria

19. They were not exotic, many corresponded with the countries of the socialist bloc

I specifically publish this post a little earlier than the pre-holiday fuss begins. Maybe some of you want to congratulate friends in this way. I have nothing against various more modern congratulations, but you must admit that it will be nice to hold a card with warm congratulations from dear people in your hands. And after 10-20 years there will be something to remember. Emails and text messages won't last that long. In general, given the speed of our mail, there is still a chance that your postcard will have time to arrive before the New Year.

Do you also have similar ones? Show in the comments.

And by the way, where can you buy good postcards now? Not pop, but made with taste and love. Most of what is sold in kiosks, I will never send to people dear to me.

Old postcards for the New Year, so cheerful and kind, with a touch of retro, have become very fashionable in our time.

Now, few people will be surprised by a shiny animation, but old New Year's cards immediately evoke nostalgia and touch us to the core.

Do you want to evoke memories of a happy childhood in a loved one who was born in the Soviet Union?

Send him a Soviet postcard with the New Year holiday, writing in it the most cherished wishes.

Scanned and retouched versions of such postcards can be sent over the Internet via any instant messenger or e-mail in unlimited quantities.

Here you can download Soviet New Year's cards for free.

And you can sign them by adding from yourself

Happy viewing!

A bit of history...

There are some disagreements about the appearance of the first Soviet greeting cards.

Some sources claim that they were first published for the New Year, 1942. According to another version, in December 1944, from the countries of Europe liberated from fascism, soldiers began to send hitherto unknown colorful foreign New Year cards to their relatives, and the party leadership decided that it was necessary to establish the production of their own, "ideologically consistent" products.

Be that as it may, the mass production of New Year's cards began only in the 50s.

The first Soviet New Year cards depicted happy mothers with children and the towers of the Kremlin, later they were joined by Father Frost and the Snow Maiden.

And after some time, the industry produced the widest range of postcards, pleasantly pleasing to the eye on the windows of newsstands filled with traditionally discreet printed materials.

And even though the quality of printing and the brightness of the colors of Soviet postcards were inferior to imported ones, these shortcomings were redeemed by the originality of the plots and the high professionalism of the artists.

The true heyday of the Soviet New Year's card came in the 60s. The number of plots has increased: there are such motives as space exploration, the struggle for peace.

Winter landscapes were crowned with wishes: "May the New Year bring good luck in sports!"

Postcards of past years reflected the trends of the times, achievements, changing direction from year to year.

One thing remained unchanged: the warm and sincere atmosphere created by these wonderful postcards.

Soviet-era New Year cards continue to warm people's hearts to this day, reminding them of the old days and the festive, magical smell of New Year's tangerines.

Old Happy New Year cards are more than just a piece of history. These postcards delighted the Soviet people for many years, in the happiest moments of their lives.

Christmas trees, cones, happy smiles of forest characters and the snow-white beard of Santa Claus - all these are integral attributes of Soviet New Year's greeting cards.

They were bought in advance in pieces of 30 and sent by mail to different cities. Our mothers and grandmothers knew the authors of the pictures and hunted for postcards with illustrations by V. Zarubin or V. Chetverikov and kept them in shoeboxes for years.

They gave the feeling of the approaching magical New Year's holiday. Today, old postcards are festive samples of Soviet design and just pleasant memories from childhood.

In this selection, we have collected the best Soviet New Year cards from the 50s and 60s and a little later - New Year's cards from the 70s. This is what you need to create a festive mood for the New Year. And we will also tell a fascinating story about how the tradition of giving such beauty appeared in the country.

History remembers the case when Sir Henry Cole sent holiday greetings to his friends in the form of a small drawing on cardboard. It happened in 1843. Since then, the tradition has taken root throughout Europe and gradually reached Russia.

We immediately liked postcards - it is affordable, pleasant and beautiful. The most famous artists have put their hand in the creation of postcards. It is believed that the first Russian postcard for the New Year was drawn by Nikolai Karazin in 1901, but there is another version - Fyodor Berenshtam, a librarian from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, could have been the first.

Europeans used mainly biblical subjects, and on Russian postcards one could see landscapes, everyday scenes, and animals. There were also expensive copies - they were made with embossing or with gold chips, but these were produced in limited quantities.

As soon as the October Revolution died down, Christmas symbols were banned. Now you could only see postcards with a communist theme or with a children's story, but under strict censorship. By the way, the postcards issued before 1939 have hardly survived.

Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, postcards often depicted the chimes and stars of the Kremlin. During the war years, postcards appeared with the support of the defenders of the Motherland, who were thus conveyed greetings to the front. It was in the 40s that you could get a postcard with the image of Santa Claus, who sweeps the Nazis, or the Snow Maiden, who bandaged the wounded.

After the war, postcards became even more popular - this is an affordable way to congratulate a relative or friend by passing on the news. Many Soviet families collected entire collections of postcards. In the end, there were so many of them that the postcards went to crafts or collages.

Mass postcards began in 1953. Then Gosznak produced huge circulations, using drawings by Soviet artists. Still under strict censorship, postcard themes expanded: fairy tales, new buildings, aircraft, the results of labor and scientific progress.

Anyone who looks at these postcards will be nostalgic. At one time, they were bought in packs to send to their acquaintances and friends throughout the USSR in different cities. There were also true connoisseurs of illustrations by Zarubin and Chetverikova, the famous authors of Soviet New Year greeting cards.

Enthusiasts were happy to learn from professionals, redrawing their favorite characters on wall newspapers and in albums. Our grandmothers and mothers keep stacks of such postcards on the top shelves of their cabinets.

In the 60s and 70s, postcards with athletes who went skiing or sledding on New Year's Eve were popular.

And they often depicted couples and companies of young people who celebrated the New Year holidays in restaurants. On the postcards of this era, one could already see curiosities - a TV, champagne, mechanical toys, exotic fruits.

The theme of space also quickly spread in the 70s, but until recently, postcards with chimes and Kremlin stars, the most recognizable symbols of the USSR, were the most popular.